Ruffling mechanism for sewing machines



March 12, 1940. A. L. PLAMONDON ET AL RUFFLING MECHANISM FOR SEWING MACHINES Filed Nov. 25, 1939 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 OMIGJW M r h' 1 9 0- A. L. PLAMONDON ET AL 5 RUFFLING' MECHANISM FOR SEWING MACHINES Filed Nov. 25, 1939 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 March 12, 1940. A. LIPLAMONDON ET AL 2,193,256

RUFFLING MECHANISM FOR SEWING MACHINES Filqd Nov. 25, 1939 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 Patented Mar. 12, 1940 UMiTE STATES P'lENT OFFICE RUFFLING MECHANISM FOR. SEWING MACHINES Arthur L. Plamondon, West Newton, and Roland A. Matthies and Owen K. Iver-sen, Needham,

Mass.

Application November 25, 1939, Serial No. 303,066

6 Claims. (Cl. 112--132) This invention relates to ruffle mechanisms for i For an understanding of the invention and an; illustration of one of the many" embodiments thereof, reference may be had to the accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure l is a side elevationof an overeeaming sewing machine of the Merl-ow type to which our invention has been applied.

Fig. 2 is an end elevation of the machine shown in 1, the miller blade being shown in inoperativeposition.

Fig. 3 is a transverse vertical section taken on the line 3-4 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 4 is a transverse vertical section taken on the line 5- 1 of Fig. l.

Fig. 5 is a longitudinal horizontal section taken on the line 55 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 6 is a fragmentary end view corresponding to Fig. 2, but showing the ruiller blade in operative position at the beginning of its forward movement along the work plate.

Fig. '7 is a corresponding view showing the ruffier blade at or near the end of its forward stroke.

Fig. 8 is a section taken on the line 8-il of Fig. 2, and

Fig, 9 is a fragmentary plan view of the rufiler blade and its associated parts.

In the particular drawings selected for. more fully disclosing the principle of the invention, l0

represents the baseof a sewing machine, and ii the base that carries the rufiling mechanism, the two bases being secured together by any suitable means, such as screws, one of which is shown at 12.

The ruflling mechanism base is provided with a forwardly extending platform i3, cast with twoupstanding ears i l, l5, which aiford bearings for the driving rock shaft i6 and the driven rockshaft ll, respectively. At one end of said driven shaft is connected, in any suitable manner, an arm it carrying at its upper end a plate 59 to which is attached the ruiile r blade ill, while at the opposite end of the machine the slotted arm 2! is rigidly secured to the outer end of the driving rock shaft, as by the screws 22, 22, or other necting arm 25, the cross head 26, and the pin 21 held by the nuts 28, 28, in adjusted position in the slot 25 rocking motion through any desired arc may be imparted to thejarm 2! and communicated to the driving rock-shaft l6.

It will be obvious that if the two rock-shafts are coupled, the blade-carrying arm l8 will be rocked through arm 2!.

Ruiiling mechanisms actuated by. two rockshafts that may be coupled automatically or the same arc as the slotted manually for intermittent action without stop- I ping the machine are not new, but the problem confronting us was the provision of a simplified coupling mechanism whereby a ruiile applied to a-highnspeed machine could be operated at will by manually controlled coupling means.

Our solution of this problem comprises two coaxial rock-shafts, one driving and the other driven, and each restrained from axial movement with respect to the other, together with a sleeve enclosing the proximate ends of said rock-shafts, said sleeve being rigidly secured to the driven rock-shaft, and any suitable manually actuated means for connecting said sleeve at will for oscillation by the driving rock shaft.

In the particular embodiment of the invention shown in the accompanying drawings, said manually actuated means eta-operates with a plunger carried by and mounted for relative movement with respect to the sleeve whereby said plunger normally held out of engagement with the driving rock-shaft, may be broughtinto cooperative engagement therewith. A means for attainingcthis result. is shown in the particular embodiment of the invention illustrated in the accompanying drawings, via, the plunger is provided with a conical. inner end which by said manuallyactuated means may be forced into a conical depression in the driving rock-shaft, thereby locking said rock-shaft to the sleeve which, as aforesaid, is rigidly secured to the driven rock-shaft. i

simple In the present instance, the means for restrain! ing' the driving rock-shaft from axial movement shaft by the set screw 3! and abutting the ear M. Axial movement of the driven rock-shaft ll .to the left is restrained by the sleeve 32, winch is rigidly connected to said rock-shaft by the screws 33 and the left-hand end of which abuts tor) is the collar 30, rigidly secured to said rockthe ear l5. Axial movement of the driven rockshaft to theright, andof the driving rockeshaft to the left, is prevented by the abutting of the inner ends of said rock-shafts, as indicated at 34. Both rock-shafts being restrained from axial movement and said sleeve being rigidly secured to one of them, it follows that there is no relative movement between said sleeve and either rockshaft. As shown, the sleeve 32, which encloses the proximate ends of the rockshafts, is provided with a tubular boss 35 intermediate its ends which serves as a guide for the plunger 36 mounted therein for relative movement with respect to said sleeve and normally maintained out of engagement with the driving rock-shaft by the compression spring 31 interposed between the head 38 of said plunger and the upper end of said boss. Preferably, the inner end of the plunger is cone-shaped, as indicated at 39, and is disposed to enter the similarly shaped peripheral depression 40 formed in the driving rock-shaft (Fig. 4). Obviously, when the inner end of the plunger takes into said depression the driving rock-shaft will be locked firmly to the sleeve 32 which, as aforesaid, is rigidly secured to the driven rockshaft, whereby the oscillatory movement of the slotted arm 2| will be communicated to the rufiler blade arm 8.

The means for actuating the plunger 30 at will is shown in the illustrated embodiment of the invention as the lever ii pivotally connected at its inner end by the pin 82 to the post 43 upstanding from the ruffing mechanism base ii. The outer end of the lever, which of course may be actuated by hand, is provided with a hole it for receiving a wire or rod attaching means, the lower end of which maybe connected to the usual treadle (not shown) employed for controlling the movements of parts of sewing machines. Preferably, an adjustable stop 45 may be attached to the slotted guide 46 for said lever by the screw 41 for limiting the downward movement of said lever. It will be understood, of course, that the aperture in the driving rock-shaft and the lower end of the plunger need not be shaped as shown in the drawings and that my invention is not to be limited thereto, but comprises within its scope various other means whereby the plunger may, at will, be brought into co-operative engagement with the driving rock-shaft.

If it be desired to actuate the ruffler blade continuously, the driving shaft may be rigidly secured to the sleeve in any suitable manner, as by the set screws 4-8 (Fig. 5). y

We have found that by the coupling means above described, the rufiiing mechanism may be stopped and started at will even when attached to a high speed commercial machine, for example, one running at 4,000 revolutions per minute, in which case, the rock-shaft will make 8,000 oscillations a minute, while with the machines of the prior art in which the clutches or rockshaft couplers are relatively movable with respect to the shafts, such result is quite impossible of attainment.

Unless the surface of contact of the lower face of the lever 61 with the head 38 of the plunger is carefully designed mechanical vibration at the rate of 8,000 oscillations per minute will be imparted to said lever, and such movement communicated to the treadle will produce an unpleasant sensation in the foot of the operator. We have found that no appreciable movement is imparted to the lever if the surface of contact thereof with the plunger is made arcuate, as

shown at 49, and given a radius of curvature equal to the distance between the center of the standing plate 5i attached to the ear iii.

driving rock-shaft and the outer end of the plunger when the inner end thereof is'seated in the depression 40, or, generically expressed, a radius of curvature equal to the distance between the center of the driving rock-shaft and the outer end of the plunger when the latter has been put into operative engagement with said driving rock-shaft.

Preferably, means are provided for automatically moving the ruffler blade into operative position in contact with the stripper 50, attached by the screws 5i to the work plate 52 which, in the present instance, is pivoted to the stud 53, upon the commencement of the ruiiling operation, and other means are provided for automatically raising the rufiler blade from the work plate upon cessation of such operation. In the illustrated embodiment of the invention, the ruffler arm i8 is rigidly clampedto the driven rockshaft H by the split hub 54 and screws 55, and at the upper end thereof the miller blade supporting plate 59 is pivoted by the screw 56 which passes through the hub 5'1 formed integral with said plate, and through the upper end of the arm 53, a nut 58 being threaded to the end of said screw that projects through said arm. Rigidly attached to the ruiiier blade plate is a finger comprising aforward portion overlying said plate and secured to the rearward end thereof by the screws 50 and extending rearwardly of the pivotal connection of the ruilier blade with the arm 28, such rearward extension consisting of a diagonal part 59 which terminates in a portion t9" extending downwardly and vertically into the plane of the finger stop means herein shown as the screw 60 threaded into the up- By means of the nut 62 the screw 60 may be held in adjusted position with respect to the depending finger 59".

Attached to the side of the arm E53 by the screw 83 is an angle piece 64 to which is connected the lower end of a spring 65, the upper end of which is secured to the under side of the blade plate and exerts thereon a downward pull at a point between the working end of the rufiler blade and its pivotal connection to the arm 48, whereby the said blade is held against the work plate, or the stripper attached thereto, when the depending finger is out of engagement with the finger stop 00. In Fig. 2, showing the normal position of the arm Hi when the rufiier is not in operation, it will be noted that the lower end of said depending finger is in engagement with the finger stop and that thereby the rufiler blade is automatically raised from the work plate so as not to interfere with the sewing operation. The arm i8 is brought to its retracted position by means of the spring 06, the respective ends of which are attached to the angle piece 64 and the upstanding plate ti, and through said plate is threaded the arm stop 5'! held in adjusted position by the nut 63. The two stop screws are so adjusted that upon the release of the lever M, which permits the spring 85 to retract the arm I8 to normal position, the depending finger comes into contact with the screw 60 immediately prior to the contact of said arm with the arm stop means 6?, whereby the ruflier blade is moved clockwise around its pivot until said arm reaches the end of its retrograde movement. In this position, the parts remain until rocking movement again is imparted to the driven rock-shaft, whereupon, as shown in Fig. 6, immediately after the depending finger has been moved away from the stop screw 60, the spring 65 pulls the rufiler blade down upon the stripper along which it moves toward the presser foot 69, Fig. 7 showing the position of the parts at or near the end of the forward stroke of the ruflier blade. At all times during the operation of the rufiling mechanism, the spring fit is under tension and immediately upon release of the lever M, such tension exerted on the arm it through the angle piece 64 draws said arm back against the stop El, thereby automatically restoring the rufiier blade to inoperative position out of contact with the work plate, as illustrated in Fig. 2.

Having thus disclosed an illustrative embodiment of our invention without, however, limiting ourselves thereto, what we claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. The combination with a sewing machine having a main shaft, of ruflling mechanism comprising a driving rock-shaft connected for operation by said main shaft, said driving rockshaft having a peripheral depression, a driven rock-shaft coaxial with said driving rock-shaft, a rufiler blade, means connecting said rufller blade for actuation by said driven rock-shaft, a sleeve enclosing the proximate endsof said rock shafts, means rigidly securing said sleeve to said driven rock-shaft, a plunger carried by and mounted for relative movement with respect to said sleeve. means normally maintaining the inner end of said plunger out of the depression in said driving rock-shaft and manually actuated means, for moving the inner end of said plunger into said depression in said driving rock-shaft.

2. The combination with a sewing machine having a main shaft, of rufiling mechanism comprising a driving rock-shaft connected for operation by said main shaft, a driven rock-shaft coaxial with said driving rock-shaft, a rufiler blade, means connecting said ruffler blade foractuation by said driven rock-shaft, a sleeve enclosing the proximate ends of said rock-shafts, means rigidly securing said sleeve to said driven rockshaft, a plunger carried by and mounted for relative movement with respect to said sleeve, means normally maintaining said plunger out of engagement with said driving rock-shaft and manually actuated means for bringing said plunger into co-operative engagement therewith.

3. Ruflling mechanism for sewing machines comprising in combination, a driving rock-shaft restrained fromaxial movement, a driven rockshaft coaxial therewith and restrained from axial movement with respect thereto, a rufller blade, means connecting said ruflier blade for actuation by said driven rock-shaft, a sleeve enclosing the proximate ends of said rock-shafts, means rigidly securing said sleeve to said driven rock-shaft, and manually actuated means for connecting said sleeve at will for oscillation by said driving rock-shaft.

4. Ruining mechanism for sewing machines comprising in combination, a driving rock-shaft having a peripheral depression, a driven rockshaft, a ruflier blade, means connecting said ruffler blade for actuation by said driven rock-shaft,

a sleeve enclosing the proximate ends of said rock-shafts, means rigidly securing said sleeve to said driven rock-shaft, a plunger carried by and mounted for relative movement with respect to said sleeve, means normally maintaining the inner end of said plunger out of the depression in said driving rock-shaft and a manually actuated lever pivoted at one end and disposed for cc-operaticn' with the outer end of said plunger to move the inner end thereof into said depression, the surface of contact of said lever with,

said plunger being arcuate and having a radius of curvature equal to the distance between the center of said driving rock-shaft and the outer end of said plunger when the inner end thereof is seated in said depression in said driving rockshaft. i

5. The combination with a sewing machine having a work plate, of rufliing mechanism comprising a rock-shaft disposed longitudinally of the lower portion of the machine, an upwardly extending arm rigidly secured to said rockshaft, a rufiler blade pivotally connected to the upper end of saidarm, arm-stop means disposed rearwardly of saidarm, spring means normally holding said arm in retracted positionjagainst said stop means, a depending finger attached'to said rufller blade at the rearward end thereof and extending rearwardly of its pivotal connection with said arm, finger-stop means disposed rearwardly of said finger and positioned for contact therewith immediately prior to the contact of said arm with said arm-stop means, and spring means exerting a downward ,pul on said blade at a point between the working end thereof and its pivotal connection to said arm for holding said blade against said work plate upon the disengagement of said finger from said finger-stop means.

6. The combination with a sewing machine having a main shaft, of rufiling mechanism comprising a driving rock-shaft connected for operation by said main shaft, a driven rcck-shaft coaxial with said driving rock-shaft, a rufiler blade, means connecting said rufiier blade for actuation by said driven rock-shaft, a sleeve enclosing'the proximate ends of said rock-shafts, means rigidly securing said sleeve tosaid driven rockshaft, a plunger carried by and mounted for relative movement with respect to said sleeve,

means normally maintaining said plunger out of engagement with said driving rock-shaft and a lever pivoted at one end and disposed for cooperation with the outer end of said plunger for bringing said plunger into co-operative engagement with said driving rock-shaft, the surface of contact of said lever with said plunger being arcuate and having a radius of curvature equal to the distance between the center of the driving rock-shaft and the outer end of said plunger when the latter is in engagement with said driving rock-shaft.

ARTHUR L. PLAMONDON.

ROLAND A. MAT'I'HIES.

OWEN K. IVERSEN. 

